I do care about the build yes, and I'm happy with how he looks.
Anyway, I'll be in Spain the next week so don't expect any updates for a while. Don't let that stop you from giving critique though. I'll review it all when I get back and update accordingly.

Though technically it is in a sketching phase, I've spent more than 5 hours on it so far. It took forever to get that Dreadnought exactly right.
Thanks for your imput though man . Much apreciated. I'll try to think a bit ore of the viewpoint and so in my next piece.

I really like the Dawn of War games. Both of them. They might not catch all the races perfectly. (Though I wouldn't know that) But I do very much enjoy them.
And most of all, it's SO MUCH CHEAPER than the tabletop games. I mean, 35 euros for a 10cm Dreadnought? That's terrible!

Quote from: Opacus on July 13, 2009, 09:53:31 pm

It's a Dreadnought from the Warhammer universe. I don't play the tabletop game, I do love the Dawn of War RTS games though.

you really should play the games, or at least read the backstory dedicated to them.  I know that doesn't sound like much of a crit, but hear me out:

your dreadnought right now is COMPLETELY lifeless.  The dreadnought in the game is the ultimate piece of reverence on the battlefield.  It is a walking reliquary, the sarcophagus of a nearly-destroyed brother in arms.  the dreadnought outranks even the chaptermaster in his outfit, and often houses the body of a former chapter-master.  they have seen the brutality of chaos at it's utmost, and survived it with their honor and soul intact.  they represent the most pious and venerable warriors of the imperium, beyond even the Inquisition and examination of the daemonhunters.  this guy, on the other hand, just looks like a kinda dopey suit of armor with a flamethrower on his hand.

I DO know the backstories Nd. And I do know that the Dreadnought is a walking sarcophagus that houses a very important fallen champion that has been revived so it may serve the empire once again.
However, as far as I know, Dreadnoughts just ARE very lifeless. They talk slowly and heavily. They walk slowly. They turn slowly. And the only thing they can really do is wreak havoc on the battlefield. They've basicly just become robots.

The one in my drawing is on a distance from the enemy, shooting them with his chaingun, and maybe he's slowly closing in to grab some orcs and crush some bones. I really wouldn't know how to add more life to a wallking sarcophagus. I don't really understand what you'd want me to do with him.

Ptoing; yeah that might be a good idea. I'll probably move him back a bit. Give hime some orcs to shoot. Probably more than one. And maybe a few more on the background.

And Ian: I'll give that some thought.

Here's the most recent one:


EDIT: Here's a darker one. Which do you prefer?


I gave him a dead orc in his claws for more 'interaction'. And of course to make him seem a bit more menacing.

The biggest problem you've got going on here is the formlesness of the robots. They look lik amorphous blobs. You should really be studying form and light. Most of the shadows and highlights really don't make any sense. And this make them look very flat, and rather strange. Even though you have drawn the forms themselves right, the shadows convince you they're a shape they're not supossed to be. If that makes any sense. Try to observe forms in real life, look up photo references, see how light falls on and influences a form.

I suggest you give this tutorial a read, it's very good and I'm sure it'll be a great help:
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

The forms are not the only problem though. The overall posture of the robots is also greatly lacking. Especially the pose of the blue robot. He has this very strange stance that doesn't exactly make him look like he's ready for a fight.
You should also really take a look at the perspective issues. I know you probably want the blue robot to be symetrical, but currently he looks completely different on the other side because there are a lot of mistakes made in the lineart.
For example, his left shoulder (our view) looks like it's facing backwards, while the right shoulder looks like it's facing forwards.

You should also give the designs of the robots alot more thought. The right one is okay, though not without it's problems. But the blue robot doesn't really make any sense in terms of design. I realise you might want them to look cartoony or whatever, but the joints for example still don't make any sense. There's no indication of knee joints on his legs, which would make it impossible for him to walk. In fact, there's no real indication of any leg joints at all.
Take a look at a few robot designs. Like gundams or Mechwarriors to give you some ideas on this.

Good luck!